Author Topic: The World of ZEAL/Keystone  (Read 41620 times)

Leebot

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« Reply #105 on: October 18, 2004, 09:13:30 pm »
Alright, here're a few upper-level non-elemental attack spells:

Level 4 (Enchantment): Dreamless (makes enemies lose hope) - Extreme non-elemental damage to all enemies
Level 5 (Enchantment): Cycle of Pain (every action and thought causes extreme pain, and acknowledgment of pain increases it as well) - Penultimate non-elemental damage to all enemies
Level 6 (Enchantment): Paradox (enemies' minds are destroyed in a forced attempt to comprehend a paradox) - Ultimate non-elemental damage to all enemies

Level 4 (Temporal): Entropy (natural decay accelerated) - Extreme non-elemental damage to one enemy
Level 5 (Temporal): Temporal Scattering (random parts of enemies shunted to the future) - Penultimate non-elemental damage to all enemies
Level 6 (Temporal): Banishment (enemies banished to the Darkness Beyond Time) - Ultimate non-elemental damage to all enemies

Hadriel

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« Reply #106 on: October 19, 2004, 07:45:38 pm »
Mmm...Banishment.

Reaching absolute zero in our universe is a physical impossibility because of Maxwell's Demon aka the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which dictates that energy moves from higher concentrations to lower concentrations -- it is, after all, basically the vibration and movements of molecules.  If you kick a soccer ball into a stationary soccer ball, the momentum will balance out.  Therefore, a spell that actually has a target reach absolute zero would have to travel to a place imbued with a complete lack of energy -- some kind of dimensional limbo.  In essence, they would be cast off into their own miniature universe.  Now, you could go to all the trouble of learning how to do that...or you could pick up a heavy blaster cannon and fry their ass.  Which one's more convenient?

Actually, the cannon isn't always.  If you need to focus your attack on one particular target, such as in a situation where, say, you're right next to a nuclear reactor and your big gun could accidentally hit it and blow both them and you sky-high, you don't want something that's "as clumsy or random as a blaster."  Cold attacks of the nature depicted in Chrono universe magic would require extraplanar phenomena to occur to sap energy from a target and direct it somewhere where it would not normally go, but the same sorts of phenomena would have to occur in order for energy to concentrate in an unusual manner at the expense of everything else in the vicinity, as it does in fire attacks.  Indeed, unexplainable phenomena are responsible for people being able to do this stuff in the first place.  We know from Chrono Cross that even if the Law of Conservation of Energy holds true at every possible level, the Chrono omniverse does not require that each universe within its structure is a closed system unto itself -- the omniverse collectively would be a closed system.  Energy could perhaps be directed into another plane of existence, or a sub-universe similar to subspace.

The sun's temperature is over 10,000 degrees Kelvin, due to the high-energy molecular reactions required to sustain the functionality of the flaming plasmatic mass it's composed of.  So, yeah, I'd believe that.

I tend to favor the CC system of Fire, Cold, Earth, Wind, Shadow, Holy, and the Chrono Cross, which has yet to be truly named or even classified.  (Note the Cold moniker for blue attacks -- it encompasses both ice and water, and it just works for me somehow.  Ah, well)  Within this system, the first four can be semi-rationalized -- the universe's laws still hold, despite the unnatural mechanisms used to employ its energy, but nearly every facet of the latter two (three, really, but the Cross, as I said, hasn't been properly explained in terms of what energies it employs) seems to scream out "Physics can bite my ass!!"  Sending enemies to hell, removing their souls from their bodies, exploding stars and only hurting the bad guys, creating singularities that don't destroy the planet, summoning armies of angels whose blasts heal the party but damage the aggressor, calling asteroids down from space without killing everything within a hundred miles...uhhh, yeah, those are really shining examples of adhering to physics.

[sarcastic face]

But seriously, that's kind of the point -- being able to transcend to the highest level of existence and manipulate the mind and the laws of the universe itself.  According to Schala, the universe itself is sentient and therefore can control some of the mechanisms of its makeup, as can all sentient beings.  It has its own natural growth, as well, that it would not disturb.  Effectively, magic of a physics-defying caliber is the very mind of God.

Question: Are Leebot's lists the official ones, or just ideas?  I'm guessing that Fire, Cold, Lightning, and Shadow are the elemental innate spells, and that there are other categories such as temporal spells, necromancy, etc.  I haven't had time to really read this -- I've been in St. Louis for the past four days at a band contest.

ZeaLitY

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« Reply #107 on: October 19, 2004, 08:11:24 pm »
They're rpetty much official right now, save for the very first one. The lower level spells don't need much clarification, and the systems were revised I believe.

ZeaLitY

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« Reply #108 on: October 19, 2004, 08:29:03 pm »
Can I introduce some history? I'm sketching a love interest for Juan, and the two will have much to teach each other. I've picked an oddball date for her origin -- that of the 1400s, in which Keystonian life is a blend of 19th century Earth. At this period in history, the old states that Porre destroyed long ago have temporarily resurged in power; Guardian dissenters, unhappy Mystics and Chorasians (who both have a natural environmental defense), and lastly, the San Dorino City Project have been lobbying for independency and secession from the Porrean state. My character has been sent on several missions to subdue small rebellions, and reestablish control over these states. El Nido is a hotbed of conspiracy and violence, as its governors side with the Porreans amidst the island nation's struggling for world recognition. Later, an outright offense on Choras to make an example will bring the powers under control, and sow the seeds for the birth of the Central Regime centuries later.

Any problems with this creation of history? I believe it gives us a neat time to examine things, and several conflicts to exploit. It can be revised if need be.

Leebot

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« Reply #109 on: October 19, 2004, 08:29:32 pm »
The system of how named spells fit into the spectrum of magic has been revised, but this doesn't really affect the spells themselves. I'll go back and edit the first post to make it clear that's not the "official" version.

The most important point about the named spells is this: The list is by no means limiting, the named spells are simply the ones that are found to be particularly effective or unique.

Leebot

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« Reply #110 on: October 19, 2004, 08:34:14 pm »
One suggestion I just thought of: Should we make a new thread (or something) to keep track of all the data we've set up (characters, magic, ZEALian culture, etc.) so we don't have to search through 15 pages of posts to find what we're looking for?

ZeaLitY

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« Reply #111 on: October 19, 2004, 08:36:43 pm »
I've been gradually doing that with the first post of this thread as we finalize things. Most of what has been decided upon is included there.

Symmetry

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« Reply #112 on: October 20, 2004, 12:14:40 am »
Still, an "off-limits" thread with only finalized information might be nice. Perhaps it could have character sketches as well.

It would make it easy for "back-up" purposes. Which we should probably take some time to do very shortly.

Hadriel

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« Reply #113 on: October 20, 2004, 01:55:35 am »
Depends on whether we want to make up new history or not.  An early 1400s date would still leave the question of whether the Keystonian Earth is our Earth open-ended -- some weird crap could still have happened to wipe out the history before the Spaniards arrived on the Western continent.  At the same time, the histories could still be totally separate.  I think it works, because it makes it to where we don't really have to tackle the issue.

My only major issue with the magic lists so far is that I would've thought that Absolute Zero would be the ultimate Cold attack, simply because of the things it implies within physics, but also the sheer magnitude of the magical force required to counteract what the laws of physics would normally do.  Other than that, everything looks awesome.  Hats off to Leebot for it.

Symmetry

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« Reply #114 on: October 20, 2004, 11:33:31 pm »
I didn't realize there was any debate about the two world being separate still.

They're definately unrelated, so don't worry about issues that would arise from the fantasy -> reality conversion.

Leebot

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« Reply #115 on: October 21, 2004, 12:33:57 am »
What do you mean they're unrelated? Does your memory only extend back 4 years? Don't you remember Lavos coming out and being defeated by Crono & Co.? I don't see how you could have missed that.

ZeaLitY

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« Reply #116 on: October 21, 2004, 01:41:36 am »
Quote from: Leebot
What do you mean they're unrelated? Does your memory only extend back 4 years? Don't you remember Lavos coming out and being defeated by Crono & Co.? I don't see how you could have missed that.


He's talking about a world in which Chris Colombus colonized Zenan, and the Pope lives in Guardia in 1000 A.D. Real world vs. Masato Kato's.

V_Translanka

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« Reply #117 on: October 21, 2004, 06:52:22 am »
Just read Aitrius & Leebot's Scenes, and all I've gotta say is...WOW.

Backer seems nuttier than a fruitcake, and I likes it...wait, there are nuts in fruitcake, right? i don't think i know anyone that's actually eaten one, much less made one or knows their mysterious and disturbing contents...

Oh, and Radical_Dreamer...I was wondering...It's obvious that the cell of Gil and that of Argus are dissimilar (I didn't even think about a crest-door for the cells)...I believe that Argus would need a specialized cell, I don't argue that or anything...But in the end part, you say two cells down...I was wondering if it could be altered somehow...I see the cells that Gil & Flea are in to be a lined hall, whereas Argus' cell would be a kind of special cell that's probably at the end of the hell...maybe you can make it so we can picture that...or something?

Also, if you (R_D still) haven't read the Character Path deal...I had some ideas there regarding the Pendant that Gil has...

Symmetry

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« Reply #118 on: October 21, 2004, 09:35:02 am »
Quote from: ZeaLitY
Quote from: Leebot
What do you mean they're unrelated? Does your memory only extend back 4 years? Don't you remember Lavos coming out and being defeated by Crono & Co.? I don't see how you could have missed that.


He's talking about a world in which Chris Colombus colonized Zenan, and the Pope lives in Guardia in 1000 A.D. Real world vs. Masato Kato's.


I think Leebot left off the /humour tags there.  :D

Serious or not, "cue battle music" scored a chuckle with me.

Radical_Dreamer

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« Reply #119 on: October 21, 2004, 05:17:41 pm »
Quote from: V_Translanka
Oh, and Radical_Dreamer...I was wondering...It's obvious that the cell of Gil and that of Argus are dissimilar (I didn't even think about a crest-door for the cells)...I believe that Argus would need a specialized cell, I don't argue that or anything...But in the end part, you say two cells down...I was wondering if it could be altered somehow...I see the cells that Gil & Flea are in to be a lined hall, whereas Argus' cell would be a kind of special cell that's probably at the end of the hell...maybe you can make it so we can picture that...or something?

Also, if you (R_D still) haven't read the Character Path deal...I had some ideas there regarding the Pendant that Gil has...


I was invisioning the cells still having the magic field for a door, but a small Mammon Seal over the door, mounted centrally, as a primary locking mechanism. I guess I didn't properly express that, but I can make that change.

I read the Character Path post. I agree that the necklace shouldn't allow Argus's full powers to be realized, but certainly enough to unlock all the cells to create a diversion. I'm thinking that Gil would be throwing around most of the offensive magic, since he's at full power, and uses the forbidden Shadow magic. You said you wanted Flea to sacrifice himself? We could do that, not really sure how you want to go about that. As for Sigma, I was thinking that Argus would read some file by her cell, see her power, and insist in taking her with them because of how useful she could be. Then the three of them make it out of the jail, and have to sneak to the Temporal Mission HQ.